AI water consumption: what the numbers measure
Version: 2026-08-30.2

A boundary-first evidence table for selected public AI and data-centre water claims. It separates withdrawal, consumption, replenishment and avoided use; onsite, electricity-related and operational boundaries; and measured, estimated and modelled values.

Conversions:
- 1 m3 = 1,000 litres
- 1 megalitre = 1,000,000 litres
- 1 US gallon = 3.785411784 litres (assumed for Google's rounded gallon figure; highlight does not define gallon type)

Keep the normalised_unit denominator with litres_min/max. Percentages and intensities are not converted to volumes.
No company ranking or workload estimate is supplied.

Reuse: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Inzonex compilation, classifications, unit conversions and original chart only. Upstream publications, site code, fonts and logos retain separate rights.

Sources:
https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/measuring_the_environmental_impact_of_delivering_ai_at_google_scale.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1145/3724499
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/05/29/environmental-sustainability-report/
https://www.sustainability.google/google-2025-environmental-report/
https://sustainability.atmeta.com/asset/2025-esg-data-index/